


closure on a silent winter morning

by maeseoun



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Familial Relationships, Gen, I just think Sae and Goro deserved to have their relationship explored more, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Persona 5 Spoilers, Platonic Relationships, but i think it would be interesting for sae to hear (from goro) about shido, i just really care about them. she could've been such a great guiding figure for him, i think sae and goro did have this special trust for each other., not to excuse his behavior but just because, they worked together on this case and then we don't hear much from them anymore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29707017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeseoun/pseuds/maeseoun
Summary: Goro Akechi and Sae Niijima haven't spoken since the interrogation of the Phantom Thieves.He breaks the silence first - she deserves to know what happened. Not as an excuse, but because Niijima, of all people, will listen.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Niijima Sae
Kudos: 27





	closure on a silent winter morning

**Author's Note:**

> sae and goro familial relationship. hand it over

He’d reached out to her on a cloudy winter morning, something straight out of a television drama. A month had passed since their last exchange, moments before Sae had been informed of Goro Akechi’s betrayal. 

She’d been used by the SIU; a pawn for their own amusement. They could look at her and laugh; laugh at how the silly, overly-ambitious woman in their workplace fell for a simple set-up. After all, who would commit to a case with little-to-no tangible evidence? It was witchcraft, superstition, something impossible that no sane person would give a second look.

But Sae had, eyes blazing with the passion of someone with too much to give and too little to lose. Perhaps it was her ambition, her innate need to succeed in every field she applied herself to, the pressure to parent her 17-year-old sister when she was only 26 herself. 

Maybe it was the constant need to prove herself in her little office. New hires were rarely taken seriously by the department elders, and much less so if the person in question was a silly little no-nonsense girl. 

Part of her wanted to pin it on Akechi. He must’ve known everything, she’d tell herself as she stared blankly at her laptop screen in the dead of night.  
Her partner in investigation, someone she’d once trusted, had played her for a fool. 

Despite their disagreements, he was pleasant company -- the potential to be a companion.

Behind the anger and disappointment, though, she knew he was just as much of a playing piece as she. A system of oppression masquerading as justice would do what it pleased to anyone who wasn’t seated at the top.

And so she agreed to coffee. Something simple, reminiscent of simpler days -- if they could be called that. Hindsight was twenty-twenty, but rarely escaped the rose-tinted shades of the present melancholy. 

Sae took hers black, Goro with a splash of milk. As much as he reminded her of herself at times, she’d always gently tease him for his coffee order. Or, used to -- this time, she remains quiet as they each slip the disposable cup holder onto their paper cups. Usually, their meetings were somewhere more sophisticated, an air of elegance floating about the venue as they talked legalities. 

This time, Akechi had insisted on something easy to grab-and-go, allowing only the brisk winter air to eavesdrop on their conversation. 

Drinks in hand and bundled under coats, they took to the streets of Kichijoji. The measly few outdoor vendors who’d committed to the cold season were too busy trying to keep warm to listen in on the woes of two busy people. 

He paused. There was a hesitance in his voice Sae had never heard before, one completely opposite to his usual collected demeanor. 

“I want to tell you everything.” 

Akechi's chest rises and falls, just barely, before he continues, recounting memories of dehumanization, manipulation -- checking nearly every box for abuse and trauma. She’s silent, watching him with a rare softness to her gaze. 

He’d been used for the majority of his life.

He never explicitly made it seem as such, but Sae knew. He took responsibility for faults that were and weren’t his, tone robotic as though this story were not his. Akechi had distanced himself -- she could tell that much. 

Regardless, Sae’s lips remained sealed, allowing him to finish his explanation.  
( calling it merely an ‘explanation’ feels cruel, but she doesn’t know what else to say )

Silence weighs heavy between them, breaths exhaling into little clouds that dissipate into the air, leaving only the conversation's weight behind.

“You’ve been used as a living weapon this whole time.  
I’d ask why, but that’d be foolish. We both know the depths humanity sinks to.” 

18 years old — he should still be experiencing the world as a young adult, excited at the prospect of taking vodka shots and singing terrible karaoke out of some second-hand car window. 

That’s what she’d always been told, at least. 

Sae Niijima was the last person to ask about the matter; she’d spent her college life with her nose buried deep in books on civil litigation and ethics, agonizing over the minuscule changes in her GPA. 

Perfectionism, as her advisor had called it.  
Thinly-veiled coping, said web searches. 

“Indeed we do.” 

The silence returns -- heavy but less-so than before. Sae’s never been one for extended monologues of sympathy; Goro knows that. 

In a careful gesture, she wraps an arm around his back, patting his side, then returning her hands to her coat pockets with a sigh. 

“You didn’t deserve what Shido did to you. That -- isn’t your responsibility.” 

He shrugs. The silence returns whilst they finish their coffee, the day’s first hint of snow beginning to coat their clothes with a soft dusting. 

“...

Would you like to get sushi?” 

She meets his gaze gently, offering something of a peace treaty. There’s a time and place for disappointment and distrust, but it isn’t now. If justice truly means anything, Shido will be punished appropriately -- not only for his governmental crimes, but what he’d done to Akechi. Another reminder of why she’d ultimately decided to soon leave her position as a prosecutor, another reason to refuse to accept anything but a guilty verdict for Shido. 

“As long as it’s not conveyor belt.”


End file.
